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Quick Hits – February 19, 2016

Anyone with half a brain knew the racketeering suit former treasurer staffer Edmund Michalowski filed against his former boss Dan Rutherford wouldn’t pass the laugh test. So far, it hasn’t

Though the bogus sexual harassment allegation still stands, Judge Joan Lefkow summarily dismissed the more important contention that Rutherford and aide Kyle Ham forced Michalowski to do campaign work on State time. And that harassment assertion won’t go anywhere either.

To review, Michalowski made those allegations in the middle of a heated four-way 2012 GOP gubernatorial primary. Sensing an opening, Rauner ordered friend and Illinois Policy Institute lackey, attorney Christine Svenson, to put Rutherford in an untenable position.

You see, regardless of whether the harassment charge stuck, the story itself would raise questions about Rutherford’s sexuality. And we all know the IPI is about as homophobic as it gets.

But the best evidence of Rauner’s scheme was, in the middle of one of the biggest political bleepstorms in Illinois, his buddy Rahm Emanuel saw that Michalowski landed a six-figure Cook County Recorder’s office gig.

Rutherford’s abysmal response to this farce certain didn’t help his electoral chances, but this is exactly the kind of person Governor Rauner really is.

Our only solace here is that the plan almost backfired when Sen. Kirk Dillard made a late run nearly closing the primary gap. Trust me, if Dillard was Governor, we’d have reforms And a new budget.

And BTW, if Dan Rutherford is gay, he could do a lot better than Mr. Michalowski!

Fake newspapers! Be still my beating heart!

Despite the outcry, the fact that conservative gadfly Dan Proft and his Liberty Principles PAC have been distributing “fake” newspapers supporting their slate of candidates is about as new a development as Kanye West dissing Taylor Swift.

Candidates like Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham have been using this kind of messaging medium for years, thought it certainly didn’t help Jack win many elections because:

Nobody reads newspapers anymore

People know these “papers” aren’t the real thing

Newspaper endorsements have lost their zing

The writing and editing in these “papers” falls just short of horrific

And as far as Proft’s “Lake County Gazette” goes, I haven’t seen that many run-on sentences since my son’s third grade class taped their book reports to the classroom wall.

Fake papers? It’s really hard to get excited about all this because even real newspapers are artificial these days. I’m far more concerned about Proft’s sudden support of U-46 School Board Member Jeanette Ward.

Dan! We need to talk!

It ain’t easy being the least of our brothers

I understand that entities like the Kane County Law Library and the Court’s child care option are fully funded by court fees and, with civil lawsuits on the decline, those worthy programs are suffering.

I understand that user fees are often more equitable than across the board taxation.

I also understand that one of the proposed fee increases amounts to just 10 cents.

But perhaps the reason civil suit filings are down is because it’s gotten too expensive to file one. So now these continuing hikes will only put those court projects into a fee inspired death spiral.

Here’s a perfect example! Were I to actually file that $1,000 small claims suit against the Edgar County Loons, it would run me around $234. To be fair, long distance service costs more and my opponents would have to pay those fees if they lost.

But yikes! $230! Of course we want to discourage frivolous suits, but 230 bucks to file a one thousand dollar small claims court case?

Any time we deny access to the courts – even if it’s unintended – it makes me very nervous. At what point do these fees start adding up to justice denied?